3 Reasons Why You Need a Social Media Strategy

Imagine missing out on reaching this global audience and the adverse impact this will have on your social media goals. The above numbers show no signs of slowing down so it makes sense to strategically set your social media goals separate from your overall marketing goals.

In today’s business environment, a social media strategy is vital for all business owners looking to grow and thrive. Whether you are a solopreneur, mompreneur or running a side hustle, creating a social media strategy will help you to achieve your short (and hopefully, long) term goals. By committing to a strategy, this will help you to identify engaging tactics and measure performance by analysing your metrics.

Not convinced.

There is no doubt about it, there is a lot going on with social media and if done well, the benefits are vast. These include: -

• Better connection with your audience

• Drives brand awareness

• Creates social media opportunities

• Increases website traffic

• Sells more products or services

• Boosts donations

• Generates more leads

• Measures performance

• Engages across channels and much more

Too good to be true?

No.

As you can see, there are countless benefits to writing a social media strategy but it is not a ‘quick fix’ document or solution. It takes an investment of time and planning. It is definitely worth the effort when you better engage with your audience to achieve your business goals. To not plan, you are just wasting resources, and you plan to fail.

While content marketing and social media marketing are closely linked, remember there’s a difference between them.

Here are 3 reasons why a social media strategy is beneficial to your business:-

1. Audience

As a business owner you should be clear about the demographics of your target audience or customer.

In its simplest form, this is like designing a personal profile of a best friend. You need to know things like gender, age, race, occupation, income, behaviours and interests etc. The deeper you go building the characteristics the better your outcome.

It might be useful to get your team and stakeholders involved to build on the profile to get a wider perspective. Furthermore, surveys and polls are a great way to learn more about your customer base.

Once you collate the information, you may find that you have to create a few personas in response to your buyer insights, demographics and pain points.

If you get this right you will find that you can create more focused campaigns that address the diverse needs of your audience.

Channel

Dependent on the size of your business and the resources you have, it would be best to focus on a few channels that you KNOW your audience are spending time in.

By starting small you can spend quality time building and nurturing your relationship with your customers through engaging content. Take note. If you are dealing with a professional clientele, then LinkedIn or Twitter would be ideal. However, younger customers may prefer Instagram, YouTube or TikTok.

Did you know that TikTok was the most downloaded free app followed by YouTube and Instagram (Apple’s App Store Awards 2021)? Not only did the company make in excess of $4billion in 2021, people are spending money on TikTok. As a business owner it might be worth taking notice and find your 'fit'.

Interestingly, Instagram is looking to compete with TikTok by including reels, stories and IGTV because they realised their audience responded well to video content.

Other examples include YouTube which presents a great opportunity to post content in order to drive brand awareness. The good news is that your videos don’t need to have a massive budget to create videos, just post!

If you have constructed a detailed customer profile you will know where you should be focusing your time and effort. Saves time. Saves resources. Saves disappointment!

Once you have mastered these channels, then you can look to expand your reach

2. Content

So you have decided which channels you are going to target in order to reach your ideal audience or customer, what next?

You need up-to-date, relevant content that responds to the needs of your audience. The key objective is to drive traffic to your site and extend your reach. This is not the time to trust your instinct. You need to research your content and strategy in order to produce appealing content. It’s a good idea to have a balance of entertainment and educational content to keep your audience engaged.

Remember, this is not a ‘one hat fits’ all approach to your social media strategy. Each business has a different objective and you need to ensure that your content is positive and consistent. Do not forget to ensure the tone is appropriate for your audience.

If you struggle to write content, then you can turn to Upwork or Fiverr to outsource freelancers to assist you and they thankfully, won’t break the bank!

Communities

Good quality content helps to build connections and hopefully (active) communities who not only build engagement, but become brand advocates on your behalf.

By demonstrating the human side of your business you can intermittently make direct calls to action; invite them to purchase new products and services, access special offers or sign up to a newsletter etc.

Start creating your tribes.

Interact

Think about how you can promote your content on various social platforms in order to grow your audience rather than just one.

Another way to drive traffic to your website or blogs is to target influencers and micro influencers (with between 1,000 and 10,000 followers) through promotions, you never know who will bite!

Working with influencers will help to give your brand more authenticity, but remember choose wisely.

Blogging

Blogging is an excellent way to link to your social media strategy.

For example, you can use your blog link in your tweets. If you can raise the readers interest, you can take the reader directly to your blog thus driving traffic to your website.

Think of ways to align your other channels e.g. ads, emails etc.

How to

Your audience is always looking for fresh ways for you to address their real (and perceived) needs.

'How to' tactics continues to increase the interest of your audience and this could be done by creating downloadable content such as podcasts, eBooks, checklists and videos etc. which will benefit them.

Comments

Set guidelines on who can post or comment on your blogs and posts.

Keep an eye on the comments and questions you receive and respond in a timely manner. This is also a good way to gauge what is on your audience’s mind. You have to build 'in time' to be responsive.

If you receive a bad review, be human; it’s not personal. Always respond in a positive, helpful and professional manner. Keep your emotions in check!

Competition

This is a good time to review your competition or those who are smashing it on social media. Why? You are able to better capture the attention of your audience.

Also look at big businesses that excite you and see how they are creating social media campaigns that you could emulate (in part) e.g. Amazon, Apple, Dove, Old Spice or iFit!

Scheduling

With so many distractions it would be easy to slip when it comes to posting consistently. Allocate set times to focus on posting to your social media platforms.

A simple trick is to create a schedule that helps you plan and post content consistently.

Another great idea is to create a content calendar which helps you to plan and post regularly, especially if linked to influencers, national holidays, relevant events etc. Once you set this up remember to stick to it!

3. Evaluate

The goal of your social media strategy is to better engage, influence and convert your customers.

Learn how to intentionally listen to your customers through your tactics to see how effective your social media strategy is.

In order to measure the results of your social media channels it is important that you keep an eye on how much traffic your social accounts drive to your website or blog.

This is easier than you think.

Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn provide page insights which will help you track trends related to topics or key words. Don't forget to create a post-performance strategy so that you are able to measure performance, set goals and identify key metrics ongoing. It really is important to keep track of your audience demographics, views and post interactions.

Do not be afraid to update and fine tune your social media strategy based on what trends are emerging.

Creating a winning social media strategy takes patience and perseverance.

Mediocre content will not cut it today. You content needs to be outstanding and innovate in order to break through the noise and clutter. Good quality content speaks to the heart not the head. It speaks to your customer, their friends and family which is why your tone is so important, be personable but professional.

Monitor your efforts to ensure you’re hitting your targets. Also, revisit and update your social media strategy regularly.

To your success!

Why not share in the comments section how you put your social media strategy together, or share hints and tips that readers might find useful.

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